A fatal disease killing bats in the Northeast has not struck this region yet, but wildlife experts worry that “white-nose” syndrome could infiltrate hibernation caves in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
Travis “Hill” Henry, a Knoxville-based biologist with the Tennessee Valley Authority, said some Chattanooga bats travel to summer caves in Kentucky, where the nocturnal mammals from the Northeast hibernate during winter. A sick bat returning from Kentucky could transmit the syndrome to caves in this area, he said.
One wildlife official said the syndrome might not spread beyond the Northeast.
“It’s not something to be alarmed about,” said David Pelren, fish and wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Cookeville, Tenn., field office. “But it’s something to be cautious about.”
Timothy Carter, assistant biology professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and treasurer for the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, said the Southeast is “pretty much clean at this time.”
He added that wildlife officials are working to contain the disease. More than 10 laboratories, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Disney’s Animal Kingdom are studying the syndrome.
The New York Times recently reported that the syndrome killed 90 percent of hibernating bats in four New York caves and mines. The illness — named “white nose syndrome” because of the powdery fungus covering many diseased bats’ noses — has been reported in at least 15 New York caves or mines, as well as at bat habitats in Massachusetts and Vermont.
The Chattanooga area is home to dozens of bat hibernation and maternity caves in which at least two endangered species of bats, the Indiana and gray bats, could be at risk, officials said.
Fern Cave, near Decatur, Ala., houses about a quarter of the world’s hibernating gray bats. Each summer, 80,000 to 120,000 nursing gray bats roost at Nickajack Cave, near Haletown, Tenn.
Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell-- An eastern pipistrelle bat hangs in hybernation in the White Side Cave in White Side, Tenn. The bats are one of 16 different species found in Tennessee and they hybernate from October to late March. The bat shows some sort of white substance on it's back which will be shown to local biologists for further opinion as to cause of the substance.
The Indiana bat, near extinction but living in this area, has been struck by white-nose syndrome in New York caves. About 700 Indiana bats were reported dead this winter.
The syndrome could damage populations of the gray bat, recently returned from near-extinction, Mr. Henry said.
“(It) has the potential to wipe out the gray bat species all together,” he said.
Experts don’t know whether virus, bacteria, fungus, toxin or hormonal imbalance causes the fatal illness in bats. Some suspect the fungus is a symptom of the bats demise, not the killing agent.
It is unknown whether the fungus is causing the deaths or is symptomatic of a disease, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In New England, experts are inspecting caves and searching for signs of the disease, according to published reports. Across the East, federal wildlife officials have asked the public not to disturb hibernating bats.
Local officials are informally surveying caves here.
People who spot thin bats, flying during the day, with powdered sugarlike muzzles are asked to report the information to state or federal fish and wildlife agencies.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer Mike Bailey said people who see such bats should not touch them and should take a picture and immediately report the bat to state or federal wildlife officials.
Cavers have been alerted to disinfect boots, clothes and gear after caving. Spelunkers were warned about the syndrome through caving Internet chat rooms in mid-January, said Flintstone, Ga.-based caver Kent Ballew.
“If it keeps advancing, it’s something cavers in this area will be very concerned about,” Mr. Ballew said.
The New York Times News Service contributed to this story.
